A 70dwt dry bulk carrier is being loaded ship-to-ship at the roadstead in Sakhalin based port of Shakhtersk. This is the first Panamax coal carrier ever handled at the Skakhtersk offshore transshipment station. The vessel will transport the coal cargo to China. The port expects soon the arrival of yet another coal carrier of larger tonnage, Eastern Mining Company (EMC) said.

EMC has expanded its export capabilities thanks to the Emso-1 for STS transshipment equipped with a ship-loading machine with a capacity of 2 500 t/h, a conveyor and grab cranes pair.

The ship has been operated at the Shakhtersk harbour transshipment location since the end of May.

The Shakhtersk Coal Terminal owned by Eastern Mining Company (Coal Seaport Shakhtersk) for several years shows sustained coal shipments growth, which is attributed largely to the EMC’s investments in its assets, the press release said. In June, coal port of Shakhtersk handled its record volume, 1.1 million tonnes of coal.

EMC also beefed up its ship-to-ship transshipment fleet adding 8 more ships last year. The mooring reloading complex was overhauled: one outdated loading machine was replaced with three new ones. The company constructed 3,1-km-long conveyor lines to avoid delays in delivering coal cargoes to the harbour transshipment stations.

EMC says upgrade of the terminal enabled to increase coal shipments in 2017 to 4.6 million tonnes with outlook of 8-million tonne mark in 2018.

The coal mining development project in the Uglegorsk District is comprehensive and is not limited to machinery and equipment upgrade. Eastern Mining Company is currently completing the construction of border crossing point office at the port of Shakhtersk. Shipment of export coal cargo is accompanied by customs clearance procedure. As of today, coal carriers have to enter before loading and departure, the port of Kholmsk for customs clearance, which causes delays of up to 3 days. Once completed the border crossing /customs clearance checkpoint office the delays and costs will be reduced to a minimum.Coal Sea Port of Shakhtersk LLC is the major coal terminal in the region. The company operates specialized reloading machines and 2,000 t/h vessel-loading machine. The Company’s port fleet consists of 1,700 DWT and 3,500 DWT dry-cargo vessels and tugboats. The terminal carries out ship-to-ship transshipment of coal at the harbour anchorage location, loading 60,000DWT bulkers. The terminal handles coal from the Solntsevskiy coal deposit and from the Udarnovskaya coalmine.

East Mining Company Ltd. is the major coal producer in Sakhalin region coordinating the activities of Solntsevskiy Coal Mine LLC and Coal Sea Port of Shakhtersk LLC. The company implements an investment project to increase production and shipment of coal in the Sakhalin region to 12 million tonnes per year. In March 2018, a EMC’s subsidiary EMC Transport Systems became a resident of the Free Port of Vladivostok and intends to build by 2022 a 28-km-long conveyor line for coal supply from the Solntsevsky Coal Mine to Shakhtersk coal terminal.

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